If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times… CONTENT IS KING! Yes, pictures are great and .gifs are fun, but if content is king, social video is its kingdom as video is becoming insanely popular on social media, especially on mobile.

I’m sure the popularity of video use in marketing isn’t surprising to many though, and unlike many social media fads, based on the numbers, it looks like video is here to stay. According to Cisco, by 2019, videos will account for more than 80% of video traffic. Over the past year alone, the time people spent watching videos on Instagram every day has increased by 80% (yes… 80% in a year). If you want to attract, engage, and convert customers, you better get familiar with video and its best practices… especially if you want to your social channels to be successful.

According to Adélie Studios, companies that use video marketing see 41% more organic traffic than those that don’t. And as far as conversions go, according to the Aberdeen Group, companies that use video in their marketing grow revenue 49% faster YOY than those that don’t. The proof is in the pudding… video is king. But why all the fuss?

Turns out, video produces a 95% retention rate compared the 10% retention rate of reading. Plus, according to BufferApp, 43% of people surveyed expect marketers to use more video in the future… which is exactly what they are going to do.

More and more businesses are starting to focusing on video by means of explainers, product demos, how-to’s and testimonials. Regardless of which type of genre your business chooses to go with, the success of your video will depend on one thing… is the video silent? If if is, the odds of it being deadly (in a good way) are pretty good!

With 8 billion+ views per day on Facebook’s platform, would you be surprised to find out that the majority of users interact with the platform silently… especially when it comes to video? In fact, according to Digiday, more than 85% of video views happen with the sound off.

As a marketer, you have to be aware of what you users want and cater to their preferences…. otherwise, they won’t take the bait, amirite?

“From day one, there pretty much has been the psychology that you have to catch their attention immediately.” -Gretchen Tibbits, Chief Operating Officer, LittleThings

Don’t believe me? Think about all those times you are in a restaurant or maybe even at work scrolling through Facebook and you run across a video showing you how to make this BOMB casserole. But, the only problem is… the video doesn’t have captions and the only way to find out the recipe is to turn the volume on. Are you going to risk it and sit through an entire 1 minute video with the sound on… or… are you going to keep scrolling and hope to find another great recipe, but this time with captions? I know for me personally, I’m going to keep scrolling. It happens all too often, and man, it’s frustrating.

Facebook counts a view at three seconds, which means that marketers have to find a way to engage with the user just enough to keep them around to “capture the view.” Especially when a marketer only has 10 seconds to capture the users’ attention before they scroll to the next post.

“But while the first three seconds are critical, the video also has to be designed to capture attention without needing sound,” said Tibbits.

This means that marketers need to develop video that can visually tell a story silently by using infographics, captions, or other clever means. In fact, captions included with Facebook video increase view time by an average of 12%. And luckily, you can set your videos up for success by using Facebook’s video platform that gives users the ability to add captions to their video quickly and with ease.

Are you investing in the ever so powerful video marketing?

There’s no shortage of potential with social video. There’s no longer the question of whether or not video is an important investment or not… it’s now a matter of how effective can you make your video to ensure it’s strategic success. The sooner you begin using video via social media to market your company, the sooner you can expect a bigger market.

Here are a few quick tips to get you started:

1. Focus on the story, not the sale. The first step is to brainstorm ideas for your videos. Do a little research, see what else is out there, and see what’s generating user engagement.
2. Become a director and create a storyboard. After you pick an idea to roll with, create a storyboard to help you visualize each shot, story flow, and how each phase will be produced.
3. 4, 3, 2, 1, Action! Thanks to our handy dandy iPhones, recording is much easier than it used to be. As long as you keep the shot steady, have good lighting, and great audio, you’re good to go!
4. Edit to perfection. The idea was captured, now time to “paste” everything together into one cohesive story. And don’t worry, there are plenty of websites and apps that can help ease the process.

…and if those aren’t enough tips, here are two great resources:

• https://blog.bufferapp.com/social-media-videos
• https://www.moovly.com/blog/top-6-tips-for-creating-a-successful-social-video-the-rise-of-video-marketing

Like what you’ve read? Want more?

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Source:

• https://blog.bufferapp.com/social-media-video-marketing-statistics
• https://digiday.com/media/silent-world-facebook-video/
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2017/11/07/video-marketing-the-new-king-of-content/#1a69efd57634
• https://www.facebook.com/business/news/updated-features-for-video-ads
• https://www.facebook.com/iq/articles/sight-sound-and-mobilization
• https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/complete-white-paper-c11-481360.html
• https://www.moovly.com/blog/top-6-tips-for-creating-a-successful-social-video-the-rise-of-video-marketing
• https://blog.bufferapp.com/social-media-videos
• http://www.adeliestudios.com/top-16-video-marketing-statistics-2016/